Blue Dolphin
Group: Members
Posts: 1232
Joined: Nov. 1999 |
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Posted: Sep. 23 2005, 19:46 |
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Well, just as I said in the previous thread, I bought the album yesterday. I promised myself not to buy it before I heard it, but I guess it was a sort of impulse. Oh yeah, the price was 17.99 euro.
Well, first of all my total impression: it's not as bad as I thought. It's certainly better than Millenium Bell, but compared to Tres Lunas, I don't know. Light being of course soft music, and Shade more techno. Personally I like the Light side more than the Shade, although Shade has its nice moments.
The booklet consist of 8 pages, with 4 of them about Light, and 4 of them about Shade but flipped over 180 degrees. And the middle picture is the one you can find on MikeOldfield.com. Funny thing is that you can put the "orange" or the "blue" on front of your cd. I found the cd in the store with the "blue" on front.
There are some very nice pictures of Mike in the booklet. Also in the booklet are pictures of the sea you can see as you start the website of Light & Shade. The cd prints are distorted pictures of Mike. Also, what suprised me: I thought Mike threw away all his equipment, but in the booklet I saw he kept and used some of his synthesizers. Cool.
Well, the Light: my personal favourites are Blackbird, The Gate and Sunset. Blackbird is really nice piano tune. I like the Gate so much because of the beautiful virtual voice. Sunset is just a great happy tune (though a shame it's been made earlier). It's also a shame he made First Steps with all bit of pieces from the Tres Lunas game and put together. It's my least favourite song.
The Shade: I really had to get used to this sound. I don't know Mike in techno style. Quicksilver doesn't do anything to me, but I REALLY had to get used to Slipstream. The robot voice reminds me too much of Kraftwerk. And bearing in mind that this is the song which Mike based of the FL demo, not my favourite! It's just not Mike (figures though.. FL demo...) Resolution sounds rather nice, has its moments. Surfing is a nice track, funny to see that it's appreciated by more fans. Good choice for the single!!! Tears of an Angel is a really great song, but the intro is such a shame!! If the intro was removed it could have been much better. Ringscape is another dissapointment because of the previous made music from the Tres Lunas game.
What really bothers me though, is that most songs aren't properly faded out. Most songs end with a really short fade. Bad...
Overall rating from me: a nice album with more nice tunes from the Light side. Sorry Mike when I critized your album before hearing it. Hope it's allright now, because I bought your album!
(oh yeah, like always: check back with me in about 6 months. Maybe my opinion is completely changed. )
-------------- -The mark of a good musician is to play one note and mean it-
Mike Oldfield - 1980
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